By Max Trenck
“The mind, once stretched by a new idea, never returns to its original dimensions.”
-Ralph Waldo Emerson
DEC 31
Life savings, gone: Here’s another money scam making the rounds. Kay, 80, from Virginia transferred her money to a “secure account” after someone claiming to work for Wells Fargo called, saying her money was in danger. They drained her savings account of tens of thousands until nothing was left. If you get a call your money is at risk in some way, hang up. Call your bank directly using the number on the back of your card.
-from Kim Komanfo newsletter, Dec 31, 2024
DEC 30
Communist China hacked the U.S. Treasury: They stole a key from a third-party cybersecurity firm called BeyondTrust (ironic name) on Dec. 8 to take a good, long look and steal a ton of unclassified docs. The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and FBI are still sussing out how bad the breach was. China denies everything, of course.
-from Kim Komanfo newsletter, Dec 30, 2024
Screenshots for the win
Forget scrambling for a pen and paper — just take a screenshot! Whether it’s a recipe, directions or an annoying error message, capturing your screen can save time and frustration. On your PC, hold down your Windows key + Shift + S. On a Mac, it’s Cmd + Shift + 4.
-from Kim Komanfo newsletter, Dec 30, 2024
Heads-up, drivers: Scammers are sending fake phishing texts claiming you need to pay your FasTrak bill to avoid late fees or you’ll be in big legal trouble. Don’t fall for it! It’s a ploy to trick you into clicking a bogus link to steal your personal info and drain your wallet.
-from Kim Komanfo newsletter, Dec 30, 2024
Microsoft Quick Assist: I’ll bet you don’t know this tool’s built right into Windows 10 and 11. It makes it easy to share your screen with someone remotely, aka no installations needed (love that!). This is perfect in case you ever need to help someone — or get help from someone — on your PC. Steps here!
-from Kim Komanfo newsletter, Dec 30, 2024
DEC 29
Remember the massive Ascension data breach? You know, the one that exposed the personal and medical data of 5.6 million people earlier this year. It turns out an employee accidentally downloaded a malicious file and exposed the whole data dump. Basic network security and training could’ve prevented this mess. I hope they get hit with a big fine.
-from Kim Komanfo newsletter, Dec 29, 2024
Timeline: That’s Google’s creepy (and interesting) map that shows everywhere you’ve been and the routes you took to get there. Starting in early 2025, all your Timeline data will be moved from Google’s cloud servers to your device for more security. I bet Google’s finally getting its hands slapped by the government ruler for privacy violations. Hit this link for steps to delete or download your info before it’s too late.
-from Kim Komanfo newsletter, Dec 29, 2024
The technology to reverse cancer: This is incredible. Most cancer treatments focus on destroying harmful cells, often causing lots of other damage to the body. Korean researchersjust figured out how to flip colon cancer cells back to a normal state. This removes the cancer without killing the cells.
-from Kim Komanfo newsletter, Dec 29, 2024
Your very own free assistant: Say you have messy notes from a meeting. By hand, you’d spend 15 minutes turning those into an email fit for your boss or team. Instead, open a chatbot (I use ChatGPT) and say, “Turn these notes into a professional, friendly email to my team. Point out any missing info I need to fill in.” Paste your notes at the end and voila!
-from Kim Komanfo newsletter, Dec 29, 2024
DEC 28
Tech how-to: Clean up your pics
If your photo library feels out of control after the holidays, you’re not alone. Between taking multiple shots to get the perfect one and sharing images with friends and family, duplicate photos pile up quickly. Here’s a simple guide to declutter your digital photo collection.
1. Start with built-in tools
Try the free tools already available on your device. These can help you quickly locate and remove duplicate photos.
iPhone or iPad: The Photos app makes this easy‑peasy.
- Open your Photos app and select Albums.
- Scroll down and choose Duplicates. (I just looked at mine and had 2,933 duplicate photos and 49 videos!)
- Hit Select > Select all, then tap the Trash icon to delete them. You can also select Merge to combine your dupes into one great shot.
For Android: Don’t delete your duplicates manually; open the Files by Google app, select Clean, then:
- Tap Confirm and free up > See junk files and select what you want to clear.
- When you’re ready, tap Clear > Clear. That’s all it takes to remove screenshots, memes, duplicates and other junk mixed in with your important photos.
For Google Photos: Sorry, there’s no built-in duplicate-cleaning tool here, so it’s up to you.
- Log into Google Photos, and click Photos in the left panel.
- Select any photos you no longer need (or want), and click Delete
-from Kim Komanfo newsletter, Dec 28, 2024
Formatting tip: A neat shortcut in Microsoft Word, Google Docs and pretty much every major word-processing and other office software is the paintbrush icon. Find a place in your document that has the formatting you want — think font, sizing, spacing and color — then click the paintbrush. Highlight that area, then click and drag it over the part of your doc you want to change to match the source.
-from Kim Komanfo newsletter, Dec 28, 2024
DEC 25
Hackers are tricking victims into scam-yourself attacks with fake tutorials, CAPTCHAs, and updates
6 Crafty Tactics Cybercriminals Use To Snag Money From Home Users Fast
https://apple.news/ABWMF4XV8Qvy_W8uD-Yr6VA
DEC 24
Urgent New Gmail Security Warning For Billions As Attacks Continue
https://apple.news/AYl_Zz8i_QkGzYpf0OBM7Jw
Ignoring router security settings puts millions at risk from hidden dangers
https://apple.news/Ay5XQPmX8TA2grm9fQaNgoA
DEC 23
Google And Microsoft Users Warned As New 2FA Bypass Attacks Reported
https://apple.news/Azuro7Mk4S_Kqa5q8uahQ2w
DEC 20
New Gmail Security Warning For 2.5 Billion—Second Attack Wave Incoming
https://apple.news/AQvd7ckgRTIWQdrH6yWfYQA
There’s a lot of technical writing in this article, but there is a section near the end “Mitigating The Second Wave Of Gmail Attacks—Consumer Advice From Google.” -Max
Microsoft Warns Millions Of Windows Users—Your PC Is Not Trusted After Update
https://apple.news/A1Wqv9GT9QRmTn77LOH54qA
This is for folks who link their Android devices to a Windows PC, and a change that comes when updating the phone’s OS to Android 15. -Max
Microsoft Touts Its Push to Adopt Passkeys
https://apple.news/Ai_XyFbWXNl-argF3b-Yx3A
On my iPhone I use FaceID to unlock it, AND to allow FaceID to allow my access to some websites. On my new IPad, I use fingerprint scan to unlock the device AND to allow my access to websites. These are my passkeys on these devices. -Max
DEC 18
Half a million patients’ personal info stolen in massive health care data breach
https://apple.news/ALELYezpTRMyS3PKgeNktDg
DEC 17
New Microsoft Windows Security Deadline—CISA Says Update Before Jan. 6
https://apple.news/Adhs6lkmfRUOWqLqBU2m9eA
Texas medical school says hackers stole sensitive health data of 1.4 million individuals
https://apple.news/A4ERg4VS-QoKofYevz86vgA
DEC 15
FBI iPhone Warning—Why You Should Stop Using iMessage
https://apple.news/AtT_6OHWtTzS0vgStZIQIAA
DEC 14
As Gmail Hackers Strike—4 Ways To Protect Your Email Account
https://apple.news/AfvVMMdDHQZ-y0wgcQqVqDg
How to set up iPhone Sleep Focus mode for some peace and quiet
https://apple.news/Ao96xgUT_THeIxA3z4wRrQw
DEC 13
Update your iPhone now: Apple iOS 18.2, the update that superpowers Siri with AI, also fixes 21 security issues. That includes a major flaw in Apple’s Passwords app. Still on iOS 17? There’s a fix for you, too. Go to Settings > General > Software Update.
-from Kim Komanfo newsletter, Dec 13, 2024
Microsoft’s very bad advice: Some 240 million active PCs are too old to update to Windows 11. After years of telling us otherwise, Microsoft now says you can go ahead and update your incompatible PC. The big disclaimer: Your computer might not get every security patch and update, so it’s not worth the risk.
-from Kim Komanfo newsletter, Dec 13, 2024